A few thoughts...

Okay... As the New Year 2009 approaches, these are just a few things I am discovering about myself:

1. I am weird... and I LIKE It!

2. Money doesn't matter!

3. I like making things myself, I'm very DIY (do it yourself)

4. I am a NOT homebody, I need to get out at least once a day

5. I miss my family and like my in-laws

6. I LOVE my babies

7. I LOVE being home with my babies and playing with them

8. I think it is ridiculous that we (Americans) feel the need to have sooo many things (myself included)

9. I think it is stupid that peoples homes are expected to be exceptionally clean at all times (I don't know who they are kidding more, themselves or others???)

10. I love to drink Pepsi, yummy!

11. Less is more

12. I love that "ah ha" moment of creativity

13. I am a picky eater and always will be

14. I like to have quiet time, especially in the evening (even if it means going to bed 30 minutes later)

15. I am a procrastinator... and i am working on it

16. I can survive on very little sleep

17. I like myself more the older I get

18. It is okay for people to see you unperfect... because it only makes them feel more normal

19. I like REAL people... life is messy, why clean it up???!!!

20. I can be very random.

Yeah, I am finishing things...

I have not been doing a lot of sewing since my vacation, but I did catchup on a couple of swap packages. Swapbot is my newest addiction.

I finished the other Quilt of Valor for my other Mommy's Group.



I have a request in for a local place to deliver these, so they should be finding new homes relatively soon.

I am currently working on the blocks for a quilt for Dianne, who is Amanda's new MIL. It is out of the Blank Textiles Ovarian Cancer Fabrics... I have the blocks assembled and will be adding the borders this week.



I also completed and sent my doll Quilt Swap #5 in the mail to Europe. It kind of cutesy and uses some of the gnome fabric that I covet.



Not sure what I plan on working on next after this OC quilt... Maybe my FIL, Stan's, golf themed lap quilt or something else.... Hmmmm....

Ack... I am behind on posting.

Okay, so I have not been good about keeping up with the blog… But I have been working hard. I finished 4 tops, quilted 3 quilts, finished 4 swaps and began another doll quilt. All while getting an A- in my first graduate class, a 13 day vacation, my sisters Florida wedding and Texas reception and my husband changing jobs and stressing me out!

I finished a quilt for my mom’s long time friend. I delivered it last week and am so glad it is done. I love bright colors and crazy design and this is pretty muted and tradition…

Speaking of muted and traditional my Twisted Mystery #4 is very much so… But I cannot post a picture until the quilts are on their way home at the end of the month. I got this done right before my big 13 days vacation and am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I finished the first of two Quilts of Valor my Mother’s groups made this summer. I only have to bind the one and then I will document it as well.

I got Ronin’s pirate top complete (finally) and it is at the quilters with Zach’s. I told the lady I did not need them by Christmas and she thanked me (she was swamped) and said I would be first in line after the holidays. So they will be back soon, hopefully I can get caught up by then.

I am working on my Doll Quilt Swap #5…slowly! It is due in Europe on the 1^st and I just finished the top today. No pics yet, but I will add some once it is finished. Lets just say gnomies and mushrooms...

After that I have a choice of what to work on, current leaders include Dianne’s quilt, Stan’s Quilt, about 12 different sets of swap blocks or a quilt for my newly married sister and her husband. I never get choices!!! I can’t decide!

Birthday gift!

I am so behind on updating everyone! I have been doing a lot of sewing actually. I have finished the two QOV quilts for my mommies groups and they are at the longarmer right now. I should get them back in a couple weeks and then will have to bind them and make presentation cases. I also did my first swap in 4-6 months and made 140 rail fence blocks with my 2.5” scraps for a swap on delphiforums. I have all the blocks done for my Twisted Mystery #4 quilt and I am working on sashing it now. I hope to have it ready to quilt in 10 days so I can do some of it by hand on the 8-9 hour car ride to Albuquerque to visit my SIL and nephew.

I went to the local Quilt-A-Fair this weekend as a reward to myself for watching the boys last weekend while Matt went to both a Rockies and a Broncos game. I found a both with a great sale on a demo model and after much hemming and hawing... for my birthday and early Christmas gift I got a new sewing machine. It is a Janome Memory Craft 6600. It is amazing! It threads itself, cuts the thread, it has a button instead of a petal and a huge table attachment for quilting. It also can do small letters/numbers so I can finally make quilt labels!


I will try to update a little more often, but you know how it is!

I am still here...

So I have been super busy and have not had much time for quilting and the like. We went out of town for a week, school starts next week, we have had two playdates at our house this month already and life is just streaming by…

Though I sent my Doll Quilt Swap #4 quilt almost a month ago, I have not heard anything from the recipient. I hope she gets it soon and says something. Even if she hates it, I will make her something else and she can return my cutie fishies back to me. I really like how my quilt turned out and had so much fun making it.

I received my quilt in the mail from Karen and absolutely love it! I really like the colors and swirlies quilted around the stars. As I am a newbie to Doll Quilts I am still trying to decide if I should display them on a wall or just let the boys play with them, any thoughts?

I was able to finish my first attempt at free motion quilting on my own machine. I bought a Cars panel and practiced tracing the characters. It is on the couch halfway bound and should be finished while I am watching the Olympics tonight after the boys go to bed. I will take a photo when it is done and share it. I learned a lot about free motion quilting while working on it and still have even more to learn.

I honestly am trying to work on quilting, I promise! I am putting the sashing on the blocks my Mommy ‘n Me group made for QoV. I wanted to have them done by the end of July, but.. ummm… yeah… Maybe I can get the tops finished in August, lol. Here is a photo to prove I am actually doing something!

So Ronin’s pirate quilt has been moved down the list and will be next after these two QoV tops. I really want to finish his so I can send it off with Zach's to be quilted before Christmas.

Some small successes and one big one....

I have been pretty busy with crafty stuff the last few weeks, but I have not been updating my blog here very well. So to catch you up…

I finished the Doll Quilt Swap #4 quilt and named it Aqua Fishy. It is on it’s way to Canada and should be arriving any day now.

I also made a few blocks for different quilty friends on my Quilting Passions Delphigroup. I made 2 purple and white Ohio Stars blocks for Kimberly’s quilt, but completely forgot to take a picture. I also made a block for Lexie’s wedding quilt from the group.

I received my Beginner Round Robin Quilt from the Quilting Sister’s yahoo group. It was my first ever Round Robin and I thank Lisa, Nancy, Susan, Lorianne and Kim for their lovely work on my little dragon center. It turned out very cute!

On Saturday, I took my first ever quilting class at Dry Creek Quilts. It was a machine quilting class and I learned a bit from it and am practicing my machine quilting this week on a cheapo “Cars” panel for Zach from Hobby Lobby. The instructor talked a lot about needle and thread choice, but we did not get much constructive criticism on our small in class trial square. I wish we had done more in class practice and just gotten info on thread and needles that we could read at home.

Next up is Ronin’s Green Pirate quilt, Zach’s Red Pirate quilt is waiting so I can send them off to the quilter together…

Hopefully in the next month I get Sharon’s Quilt back from the quilters as I never took in pictures and want to have it complete by the end of October to take to Texas for Amanda’s Wedding.

As for the potty training fiasco… on Saturday Zach decided he needed to poop in the potty to make his ‘girlfriend’ proud of him, so far we have had no accidents. Isn’t 3 a little young to have such pressure from a ‘love’ interest?

dang it...

While I have no fun pictures to updates with, I am happy to say my doll quilt is basted and ready for quilting. However, when I put my new free motion foot on my machine, it was the wrong foot. My needle hit the plastic guide rather than going into the fabric 1/8" away. I am pretty sure nothing is bent, so it has to be the wrong foot. So now I am on hold until I can find a free motion foot that works on my machine. I will try a couple stores this afternoon, but who knows!

Sneaky Peak of dqs4

Here is a cute sneaky peak of my Doll Quilt Swap #4. It shows the quilt in the background and a few of the accents I am hoping to use after I get it quilted.



When I get it finished, I will be sure to post a picture.

In the last two days I have not gotten any sewing done. I have completed some sewing related projects though.

I cut the fabric for the blocks for my Doll Quilt Swap #4 quilt. I also have an idea about the pattern for the top. Here are the fabrics for the dqs4 quilt I am making…

I also chose and packaged my fabrics going to the Twisted Mystery #4 Quilt Swap. They are playful, but I cannot post a picture because this is a secret swap and I would not want my partner to know I sent them. I will post again when I get the fabrics that I will be working with.

I also got Zach’s Pirate quilt ironed and packed to be sent for quilting, but I still have to piece the backing and decide if I am sending it alone or if I should wait to finish Ronin’s too and send them at the same time. Here is a picture of the top…

I really need to get to work on my doll swap quilt and Ronin’s pirate quilt, but I have been so unmotivated lately!

Zach has been regressing today with his potty training... he has soiled 5 pairs of pants this morning and it is barely 11am. So I am making him run around half naked. He still refuses to poo in the toilet. I have no idea what is up with this guy. He was doing so good with the training and then he just stopped going the to toilet at all today. I hope he goes back to at least peeing there soon! I know it is most likely my fault for freaking out after the 2nd or 3rd pair of wet pants this morning, but come on!

Edited to add: Never again will I let him go without pants! He pooped upstairs then played trains in the poop and made 'tracks' all over the floor in 3 rooms. Somehow he did all this in less than 10 minutes!

Got two things in the post today... YEAH!

Yesterday I finished the RRCD Quilt top called Candy Stripes. I put on the second border of QST's and used all the 30s repro fabric I have. There are a few QSTs and 4patches left over that I might try to fit togerher into another charity top some day. I sent this in the mail with a ton of striped flannel for a backing to Dori to quilt and finish.



I also mailed Sharon's quilt and backing with some batting to Quiltgal for quilting. I have not used her before, but she is very reasonably priced and seems very knowledgable. So I think she will do a wonderful job. Sharon's quilt is gigantic and rather cute. I did not really like the colors before I made the top, but now that it is completed it all goes together nicely.

So now my sewing priorities are:

The second of three pirate tops...
The QOVs for the mommies groups...
And deciding what I want to do for the Dall Quilt Swap #4...

Speaking of dolls, here is mine. He has been my doll since 1981 when my little sister, Amanda, was born. I have cried on him a million times. Since there are no other females in my house, I doubt I could find another doll anywhere.



The boys and I went swimming this morning and had a great time. I think I am a little sunburnt on my back where I could not reach to put sunscreen on. I think we will go do a little shopping this afternoon after Ronin wakes up from his nap.

Doll Quilt Swap 4

So I found this cute and fun looking swap on the net last year, but was too late to participate. I enjoyed looking at the photo's of the cute little quilts that were being made and shared by all. This year I was able to sign up and just got my swap partner's (SP) name. I am so excited... My SP did not give me a lot of requests, so I am revving up my creativity in hopes of making something cute and fun.

I think I am going to take a picture of my one and only doll as it is not a typical doll and since I am the only girl in my house it will have to due. My doll's name is Michael and I got him in 1981 when my little sister was born. He is well used and still comforts me when I cry those midnight tears. I will try to remember to do that tomorrow.

Here is a link to the swap info...

http://dollquiltswap.wordpress.com/

Quilty stuff I need to be working on...

So I need to start keeping track of the things I have on my to-do list as I am starting to get forgetful... hehehe

Add border to 30's RRCD

Send Sharon's Quilt to quilter

Start sashing MnM QOV Blocks

Green Pirate Quilt

Orange Pirate Quilt

Triple Four Patch

Turn Orange and White Swap Blocks into top

Turn Purple and White Swap Blocks into top

Turn Blue, Yellow and White Swap Blocks into top

That is all I can think of right now, but I am sure I am missing a few. Nothing has a due date so I am not too stressed, but I would love to get some of these done!